The Flash (Wally West)
History Origin Wally West was born to Rudy and Mary West in Blue Valley, Nebraska. As a boy, Wally would often daydream, most notably about being The Flash. He idolized The Flash, was the president and sole member of the Blue Valley Flash Fan Club. His parents thought he was setting himself up for failure and did their best to dampen what they believed to be unrealistic expectations, in rather harsh ways. His father encouraged him to work at the same plant he did, but Wally grew frustrated and hurt (eventually apathetic) by their lack of faith in his abilities. At a family reunion held at the Wests, Wally accidentally spilled some soda while pouring, and was yelled at by his father for keeping his head in the clouds. He went to his room crying and a familiar looking man, who he thought was maybe his uncle or something, came in and talked to him, saying he shouldn't give up on his dreams and giving him confidence that he'd reflect back on for years to come. Kid Flash One summer, when he was ten years old, Wally went to Central City to stay with his aunt, Iris, who he called his best friend. Iris was going out with police scientist Barry Allen, who was "close friends" with The Flash. Barry "introduced" Wally to his idol, the Flash. In the back room of Barry's apartment was a lab, where Wally asked the Flash all sorts of questions. When he asked Flash how he got his powers, the speedster set up his cabinet of chemicals just as it had been when he was created. Wally wished that something like that could happen to him, the Flash dismissed it as a billion to one chance. Just then, however, lightning did strike the cabinet, bathing Wally in the same chemicals that created the Flash. Flash told Wally to keep this a secret, and even from Aunt Iris. He gave Wally a smaller Flash costume, and Wally became Kid Flash. The Flash taught Wally everything he knew about how to use speed to his advantage, and about the rogues gallery. The next day, Wally apprehended his first criminal after conquering a crippling fear of fire, Mr. Element. Element had attacked the Art Museum, transmuting many pieces of art into shapeless forms. Element stole the Giardi Atom, an atomic model crafted from gold and jewels. Kid Flash followed Element to the home of Ward Wellington Weaver, owner of another Giardi Atom, where he defeated the villain and turned him into the police. While in high school, Wally was a member of the Eta Pi fraternity, along with his good friend, Tommy Elkin. The next summer, Barry told Wally his secret identity, which surprised Wally, who had always thought Barry was kind of boring. Again, lightning struck, causing a matter-transforming machine to transform Wally's costume into a newer, predominantly yellow, costume, the design of which Barry had been toying with in the back of his mind. He also joined the Teen Titans. He began to take classes at Taggert University, with hopes of eventually getting a doctorate in physics. As Barry's sidekick, Wally met Hal Jordan, then Green Lantern of Earth, and became Jordan's friend just as Jordan had been Barry's friend. Because Wally had been struck by lightning when he was ten, rather than a full grown man, it affected his body differently than it had Barry's. Although he was able to run through the crippling pain he called "hitting the wall" the summer after he got his powers, when adolescence hit, it came back with a vengeance, to the point that Wally was forced to quit superheroing. The New Flash During Crisis on Infinite Earths, when Barry Allen was killed, an anti-matter ray hit Wally full force. While it knocked his speed down to that of sound, it also removed the malady that caused him intense pain. Wally took Barry's uniform and declared himself the Flash, just until Barry returned. However, the rest of the population did not share Wally's feeling that Barry was still alive, and they did not appreciate Wally's attempts. After being publicly embarrassed in a fight with Dr. Alchemy, Green Lantern declared that he would protect Central City. For about a week, Wally donned his Kid Flash costume again. However, during the next fight with Dr. Alchemy, he finally realized that Barry was not coming back. He saved Green Lantern and Jay Garrick from Dr. Alchemy. Finally, he was accepted as the Flash. After accepting that Barry was dead, Wally still had to overcome his anger of feeling abandoned, and forced into a role he did not feel ready for. Coupled with the emotional pain of what had happened with Raven, anger somehow overcame all the values that Barry had taught him, and he was rather rude and childish for a while. All these mental blocks also slowed him down, sometimes to the point where he lost his speed entirely. He also manifested the need to consume large quantities of food after using his powers, another product of his psychological condition. Wally won six and a half million dollars in the lottery. He was able to leave his small apartment in Brooklyn and buy a mansion on Long Island. He asked Frances Kane to live with him, and she accepted, for a short while. After two weeks, she left, saying they were moving too fast. Soon afterward Wally invited nutritionist Tina McGee to live with him, even though she was eleven years his senior and not quite divorced. Wally's mother, Mary, also came to live with him, causing much tension between the two women. After Tina left so that she could go back to her husband, Wally lost all of his money in the stock market, and had to move to an apartment. Here, he befriended his neighbor, Mason Trollbridge. He also began seeing Connie Noleski again, a Texan model who he had actually been living with for a short time before Tina. After the alien invasion of Earth, during which Wally fought Durlans in Cuba, the aliens set off a gene bomb that robbed Wally of his superspeed. His friends, Jerry and Tina McGee, set up a device to restore his speed. It sprayed him with the chemicals that had gifted Barry and himself with superspeed while sending an electrical charge through him. However, with his new speed, Wally burned a deep trench across America, stretching from New York all the way to New Mexico. His aura, which had previously served as an energy collector, began to feed directly on him, starving him and affecting his brain, and his consciousness to another energy level. He grew long spines around his body, and stalked around Swainsville, New Mexico, confused and looking for food, contributing to the citizens' belief in a local myth, the Porcupine Man. Chunk was able to restore his essence to this dimension by using his singularity powers. Fortunately, Mason Trollbridge was able to pluck the spines out of his body. Keystone City After several attempts at Wally's life, he decided to move to Keystone City, which had been recommended by Jay Garrick's wife, Joan. Mason decided to join him so they could share rent. In Keystone, he started to date Linda Park, a reporter he had met initially during the Porcupine Man incident. When Barry Allen seemingly returned from the dead, Wally didn't know what to think. Jay and Hal Jordan had both embraced his return, but Wally remained skeptical, mostly because he hadn't mentioned Iris, who had died at the hands of Professor Zoom, at all. However, when Wally saw this Barry visit Iris's grave, his heart was won. Barry was back, or so he thought. Barry began to behave irrationally, as if he, and only he, was the true Flash. When they were both stuck in a Combine trap, Barry left Wally to die, then told the rest of the world that Wally hadn't been up to being the Flash, and had passed away trying. In fact, Wally had escaped, but watching Barry speak so badly of him, decided to give up on the Flash identity, telling only Linda that he was still alive. In an aimless wandering through the streets, he came upon a tattered old book in the alleyway where Barry had materialized. It contained the truth. This Barry was fake, his true identity was Eobard Thawne, better known as Professor Zoom. With the help of the older speedsters, Jay, Johnny Quick, and Max Mercury, Wally brought Zoom down. In this fight, his speed returned to its old glory. He was every bit as fast as Zoom because he had finally come to terms with his fear that he would be replacing Barry. In an elaborate scheme laid out by Abra Kadabra, Wally was sued for negligence by Allison Armitage, a store employee who was maimed in his fight with Razer. Although all the evidence in court favored him, Wally himself was furious at his actions. He felt that he, being the fastest man alive, should be everyone at once. During the trial, he went on a non-stop, one-man life-saving spree, trying to make up for what he had done. After the trial was over, he went to Johnny Quick to ask for his speed formula, hoping that adding their speeds would make him unstoppable, able to save everyone. However, the formula only froze him in time. Max Mercury, who was able to join him for a while at that speed, taught him an important lesson. He cannot be everywhere at once. No matter what, he can't save everyone. Establishing His Own Legacy Aunt Iris returned from the future, where she had actually gone, instead of actually being dead. She wasn't alone, either, she brought along Bart Allen, a young man with amazing speed, who turned out to be her and Barry Allen's grandson. His power was accelerating him to the point that he'd die of old age before reaching his 4th birthday, and she needed Wally's help. He was already in the body of a 14 year old despite only being alive two years (although he had the mental capacity of a young teen). Wally managed to stabilize his speed, but the two did not mesh very well at all, Wally claiming it was because they were too alike. Bart took up the speedster gig, but laughed at the idea of going by Kid Flash, instead dubbing himself Impulse. When Hal Jordan seemingly went mad after the destruction of his former home, Coast City, and became Parallax, he was replaced as Green Lantern by Kyle Rayner, who took his place in the Justice League of America just as Wally had taken Barry's place. The relationship between the new Green Lantern and the third Flash got off to a rocky start - Wally had grown up with Jordan as the Green Lantern, and having fond memories of him, to the point that he thought of him as "Uncle Hal", did not warmly embrace Rayner and questioned whether or not he was worthy of replacing Jordan, and was perhaps more critical of Rayner than any other hero was in Rayner's early days. The two eventually overcame their differences and became friends, like their predecessors. Wally brushed with the Speed Force while unsuccessfully trying to save the 64th Century from Zero Hour. He was sent back through time, where he invisibly watched on the important points in his life as they happened. Wally became solid at the West Family Reunion, and turned out to be the "uncle" that gave his past self that pep talk. He soon returned to his proper time, but not until he had seen one more vision, a vision of Linda's apparent fate at the hands of Kobra, as well as his own death. Afraid for Linda, he tried to take out Kobra as soon as possible, hoping that he could stop the tragedy that he had seen before it happened. He hid all of this information from her as long as he could, and kept holding back his speed, hoping to not brush against the future again. In a fit of rage when Bart, ruined his plans against Kobra, Wally raced home, and began to turn into a being of pure energy. It subsided, but it happened again shortly thereafter, and more so. Giving it one last ditch effort, and realizing he would very likely not make it out alive, he asked Jesse Quick to take over the mantle of Flash for him, should he pass. This turned out to be nothing but a ploy to make Bart jealous, in hopes that he would get more serious about his legacy. This pissed Bart and Jesse off pretty well. Wally thought he had averted the disaster he had foreseen when he saved Linda from Kobra's laser, but did not expect it to play out again. He had to go faster than light to save her, the consequence being that he entered the Speed Force. He traded her fate for what he thought would be his. However, he managed to returned from the Speed Force, despite what Max had said about it being impossible. Linda was still on Earth, and that kept him from leaving her forever. Upon his return, he quickly defeated Kobra and destroyed his geothermal tap, ruining Project Morpheus. This trip beyond the light gave Wally the power to tap directly into the Speed Force, manifesting in him new powers. He accelerated the speed of Jesse Quick's injury, healing her leg almost instantly, was able to vibrate through objects like he did as a kid, only now they were microwaved afterwards, and was able to give speed to other objects as well as take it away. Previously, Wally had been able to find his way home by using Linda as a beacon to his proper time, but in his last jump, Wally was not able to make it home right away because Linda's love had been distracted by the attention of John Fox, the Flash of the 27th century, who told Linda Wally was dead, and she was doing her best to move on. Finally, he did return, only to find that Linda had been frozen in an attempted Ice Age by Polaris and Abra Kadabra. Wally used the Speed Force to speed up her molecules and thaw her out. Wally, during a brush with the Black Flash who had apparently claimed the life of Linda, saved her from the Speed Force. He proposed to her and they were married shortly thereafter, but then she disappeared off the face of the earth, and no one, even Wally, remembered her. New Friends, Foes, and Challenges Linda eventually returned and life for Wally in Keystone seemed to return to normal. However, things would take a turn for the worse as people who had been saved by the Flash began to be murdered one by one with a certain type of lightning bolt-shaped dagger. The mysterious reappearance of Wally's ex-girlfriend, Magenta, who claimed that she had sorted out her issues and was a hero now. After taking down a gunman, Wally befriended beat cop, Fred Chyre, who was partners with another one of Flash's ex-girlfriends, Julie Jackam. Unknown to Wally though, Julie had a son named Josh. Julie was the next victim on the daggering wielding murderer's list and was stabbed to death. Officer Jared Morillo, a man Wally knew from back when he was in Detroit, had recently transferred to Keystone City. He showed Wally just how many murderers there had been and that all the victims had once been saved by him. Flash was then captured by Magenta, who revealed that she was in league with the people who were murdering the civilians Flash had saved. She kidnapped Wally and brought him to the cult's hideout. There, Wally met Cicada, the leader of the cult who had been struck by lightning once, which made him immortal. He worshiped Flash but in actually only wanted to use the speed force drawn from the him to resurrect his dead wife. Wally was stabbed by him which left a scar but eventually defeated Cicada and stopped the cult. Magenta, however, escaped. Not long after, Wally and Linda attended Julie's funeral where Chyre told Wally about Julie's son Josh who would occasionally exhibit lightning bolts from his eyes. Chyre explained his theory to Wally and Linda that he believed that Josh was Wally's son. Before they had a chance to sort this out, they were attacked by Weather Wizard. He claimed that Josh was his own son and he had somehow been passed on the weather controlling powers despite the fact that Mardon needed a wand. Mardon hoped to take the boy in order to learn how he had acquired these abilities so Weather Wizard would no longer need a wand. Wally defeated Weather Wizard but not before Mirror Master showed up in a reflection, telling Mardon that they couldn't risk helping him at this point. Weather Wizard was taken into custody and brought to Iron Heights. An outbreak of a disease known as the Frenzy Virus, spread throughout Iron Heights. It had been set loose by Dr. Amar, a deranged serial killer who had been put away thanks to Barry Allen years prior. Amar now went by the name Murmur and had sewn his mouth shut. Wally and Piper went into Iron Heights, wearing masks that protected them from the virus while Jay worked on a cure. Wally met Warden Wolfe who he disagreed with on moral views but still reluctantly went to go find the person who had set loose the virus. They fought through inmates of the prison who Wally had never encountered before such as Girder and Double Down. Wally also saw a radioactive man known as Fallout who was being used against his will to fuel the prison's power. During the fight, Wally encountered Murmur but became infected with the Frenzy Virus soon after. He rushed to Jay who cured him and they mass produced the cure for the disease. Wally would encounter many new foes in the next few months including Tar Pit and Peek a Boo. A woman named Blacksmith appeared, recruiting many of the inmates of Iron Heights and she led a new Rogue group. With the Rogues, she began a plan that would eliminate the Flash as a threat to them. First, she had Plunder, the bounty hunter Wally had encountered in the mirror world, shoot Chunk, an old friend of the Flash. Then, Joan Garrick fell ill and was believed to be dying. Blacksmith also hired someone to distract Jesse Quick and then had Magenta get rid of Cyborg. During a failed attempt to transport Gorilla Grodd to Iron Heights, Wally barely managed to stop Grodd who had already caused havoc throughout the city. Wally met a man named Hunter Zolomon, a new profiler who specialized on learning about the Rogues. He would prove to be a great ally in aiding the Scarlet Speedster. Wally would soon fight a young man named Axel Walker who now used the Trickster identity now that James Jesse had joined the bureau. He stole information from Zolomon and Commissioner Kenyon, head of the Keystone Union and former criminal. Trickster joined up with Blacksmith who was close to unleashing her plan. A being called the Thinker took over Keystone, hoping to absorb everyone's knowledge into his memory banks and nearly succeeded, taking over Linda and only missing a few people including Chyre, Morillo, Captain Cold, and of course, The Flash. Before he could manage to do anything about it, Flash was attacked by Blacksmith and the Rogues in Central City who hoped to kill Flash before Thinker could. Flash, with help from Cyborg, defeated Thinker, freeing everyone in Keystone from his grip. He then got into another battle with the Rogues, defeating them all except for Trickster, Weather Wizard, and Mirror Master who were rescued by Captain Cold. Soon after, during a check up on if Linda was alright after the Thinker ordeal, Wally and Linda discovered that Linda was pregnant and that they were going to be parents. Wally was called in in the middle of the night to Iron Heights which was being attacked by an army of gorillas who were being psychically manipulated by Grodd. They broke into the prison, where Hunter Zolomon was attempting to get Peek a Boo to be released. Unfortunately, the apes managed to break through the security forces, making their way into the pipeline, where all of the Rogues were held. They freed all of the Rogues were trapped and then Grodd. Flash arrived, briefly battling the Rogues until Grodd fought him himself. Wally's hand was broken in the duel and Grodd managed to knock Wally out briefly. Grodd then attacked Warden Wolfe and Hunter, severely injuring the Rogue profiler. Grodd escaped with his manipulated companions to the new Gorilla City. Flash got there before him, wanting vengeance on him for hurting Hunter so badly. They fought furiously through the highly intelligent gorilla's homeland before Wally managed to beat him. He argued with the gorillas that Grodd should be taken back to Iron Heights and put under heavier security. They disagreed, wiping the location of the city from Wally's memory and sending him back to Keystone. Hunter was paralyzed from the event, unable to walk again, and he grew depressed over the turn of events. He begged and pleaded for Wally to use the Cosmic Treadmill to stop it from happening but Wally sadly told him that he couldn't rewrite history because it could change the world for the worse. Hunter, furious at his friends "betrayal", tried to activate the Treadmill himself which exploded in his face. He was merged with a wormhole in time, causing him to shift through the time stream differently than everyone else, which gave him a type of "super speed". Hunter, feeling that the reason Wally did not help him was because The Flash didn't understand tragedy, took the name Zoom, after the once great villain of the Flash, Professor Zoom, and set out to show Wally what tragedy really was, thinking it would make him a better hero. Wally gathered his friends and family together and he and Linda told them that they were going to be parents. Everyone was overjoyed(except for Bart, who jokingly doubted that Wally would make a good father) but the celebration was interrupted when the new Zoom attacked the city, using sonic vibrations. He confronted Jay and Wally who attempted to steal his speed but failed as his powers did not come from the Speed Force. Zoom then attacked Linda on the rooftop of her apartment. Bart tried to rescue her but was easily beaten by Zoom who kidnapped Linda. Wally and the cops tried to figure out who this new enemy really was when Zoom appeared with Linda in tow, which caused The Flash to chase him across the city. Zoom, with Wally watching, snapped his fingers, causing a sonic boom that hit Linda, injuring her. She was rushed to the hospital where all of the speedsters gathered. Zoom reappeared, challenging Flash. Impulse and Jay gave Wally their speed but Zoom was still far too fast for him. They fought until they came to a stop where Zoom revealed that he was Hunter. Wally, confused and angry by his former friend's betrayal tried to fight but Zoom revealed that what he had done to Linda was worse than Wally feared. She had had a miscarriage of not just one baby but of two. She was going to have twins; a baby boy and girl. Zoom continued his lesson on tragedy attempting to cripple Wally as he had been crippled but Wally was rescued by Jesse Quick. The heroes regathered, figuring out that Zoom ran on time rather than the Speed Force. Morillo and Chyre told Wally where they thought Hunter had gone, where his father in law had been killed due to a mistake he had made. Wally went there to face him where Jesse said her mantra and passed her speed onto Wally who was now as fast as Zoom. Hunter and Wally fought around the world all within the course of a second, with Zoom taunting Flash to break his neck as Barry had broken the former Reverse Flash's. Wally managed to stop Hunter by pushing his face into one of the wormholes he made as a side effect to his power. Hunter was put into a state of suspended animation from this and Wally had to face the fact that he lost his unborn children and his chance to be a father. Feeling guilty that the only reason Linda was even attacked was because his identity was public knowledge, Wally was approached by The Spectre who took away the world's knowledge of his secret identity and because of that, Barry's as well. Sadly, Spectre took away Wally's own memory of this as well and for two months, The Flash had disappeared and Wally had gotten a job fixing police cars. He befriended Len Snart, who he no longer knew was Captain Cold, at a dinner he frequented and one night, was hit by a bolt of lightning. He discovered that he could move at super speed and was given a Flash ring containing Barry Allen's old uniform by a stranger in the street. Cops were being killed in Keystone and Wally donned The Flash suit, hoping to use his 'new powers' to stop the killings. Batman approached Wally who still did not understand why he was Flash or why he couldn't remember ever being Kid Flash. Batman removed his mask, revealing that he was Bruce Wayne and Wally's memories flooded back into his mind. He remembered everything and quickly went back to trying to apprehend the cop-killer. He confronted Cold who swore that he was not involved and Wally soon learned that it was a new Mr. Element. Mr. Element tried to murder Ashley Zolomon, Hunter's ex-wife who was now the new Rogue profiler. Flash managed to stop him but Captain Cold appeared and murdered Mr. Element before escaping. Linda blamed Flash for their babies' death, still unaware that her husband was actually the Scarlet Speedster. Wally revealed who he really was to her and at first she was angry with him but when he offered to give it up for her, she told him that he couldn't give up who he really was. Everything seemed to be going right until Linda vanished, only leaving a note behind. Retirement and Return During the recent crisis, Wally, with the help of Kid Flash, Barry, Max, and, and Johnny, were able to temporarily subdue Superboy-Prime by sending him to the Speed Force. He and the other speedsters, along with Linda and the twins, were sent to an alternate Earth, home of another Jay Garrick operating as the Flash. They decided to absorb the Speed Force into Bart and send him home to battle Superboy-Prime. Content with passing the Flash mantle on to Bart, Wally and Linda decided to raise their children on the alien world Savoth, where the residents were longtime friends of the Flashes. However, shortly after their arrival, the twins began to age very rapidly. The Savothians, who were advanced scholars of velocibiology, at first did not agree to help the Wests, but finally relented and agreed to train Linda to deal with the children's rapid aging. Wally, along with Linda and their children, was brought back to Earth by seven members of the Legion of Super-Heroes using lightning rod devices. He was then invited to join the newly reformed Justice League. Wally and Linda moved back to Keystone City. Since they were afraid the twins could, at any time, age rapidly, possibly even to old age and death, they decided to let Iris and Jai, who had developed their own superspeed-related abilities, live their lives to the fullest by helping their father fight crime. Not long after, Wally found himself once again pulling a double-shift for two separate teams. He reunited with his old allies the Titans in order to face the pressing threat of Trigon. Rebirth of Barry Allen thumb|250px|left|Wally running beside Barry once again! When the New God, Orion, was murdered, Wally and Jay investigated to find the Secret Society of Super Villains' hideout and discovered Metron's chair. They figured out that the bullet that had killed Orion had been sent through time thanks to the chair which acted as a gateway. Suddenly, a light filled the room and from within the portal of the chair came Wally's former mentor and idol, Barry Allen. Barry was chasing the bullet that killed Orion through time but was being pursued by Black Racer. Wally and Jay joined him in the race to save Orion's life but they were too late, Orion was killed. Jay was forced to abandon the chase due to not being able to keep up but Wally and Barry tried to escape the Black Racer, ending up in the near future where the world had been taken over by the Evil Gods thanks to the Anti-Life Equation. They visited Wally's Aunt Iris' house to find even she had been corrupted by Anti-Life. After freeing her from the Equation, Barry and Wally tried to come up with a plan to stop Darkseid, who had now taken over the world. They once again ran, the Black Racer catching up with them, and went into a full sprint for Darkseid. The Black Racer was gaining on them as they approached Darkseid, who was in the middle of battling Superman with his followers. The Flashes saved Superman from the followers' omega beams and when they managed to get to Darkseid, they vibrated through him, causing the Black Racer to crash into him, severely wounding the Evil God. After Darkseid was defeated, Barry and Wally reunited with the rest of their friends and family. Superman assembled Wally along with both generations of the Titans, to reveal that Bart Allen and Superboy had been resurrected in the future and brought back to the present. Wally couldn't be more overjoyed to see his cousin back. Both the superhero community and the public learned of Barry and Bart's return, assembling parades and celebrations for all of the Flashes. Wally was with the other Titans at their tower in New York, putting together a welcome back party for Barry. He talked with them about what it was like being mentored by someone like Barry while also keeping Jai and Iris, who he had brought along, in line. Wally and his kids all received a huge electrical shock caused by the Speed Force after Barry had accidentally killed Savitar. All of the speedsters felt it, except for Barry, and Wally called Barry and asked for them to meet up. They were running together, discussing what had happened when they discovered that the Black Flash was now dead. Soon after, they were ambushed by one of Savitar's followers and when Barry touched her, she turned to dust. Barry suddenly transformed in front of Wally's eyes, into the new Black Flash. Wally called the Justice League and the Justice Society for help and they encased Barry in a machine that would remove his connection from the Speed Force. Iris showed up to comfort Barry but when his Black Flash powers went berserk, he unleashed a blast of energy. Wally managed to grab his Aunt Iris and rescue her from the blast. He then witnessed Hal Jordan take Barry away from the other speedsters. thumb|right|150px|Wally traveling into the Speed Force Superman and the other Justice Leaguers returned to the speedsters and told them of Barry running back into the Speed Force to protect them. Wally refused to allow Barry to just go after only having been back for a short time. Wally decided to run into the Speed Force himself to rescue Barry. He also promised Bart that he'd try to get Max and Johnny back as well. Jay questioned Wally about his idea, telling him that he may not come out but Wally explained that he had been in the Speed Force before and that as long as he has Linda, he'll be able to find his way back as he did when he first was sucked into the Speed Force during his battle with Kobra. Wally ran as fast as he could, memories of his past passing by him. He ran deeper and deeper into the Speed Force which was now tainted by the crimson lightning of the Negative Speed Force. After a long run, Wally managed to find Barry and Max but Johnny had already been killed. Barry told him that Eobard Thawne, the original Reverse-Flash, had returned and that he was the one behind all of this. Wally took Barry's hand and the trio of speedsters forced themselves out of the Speed Force. In a flash of lightning, Wally reappeared on Earth to find Thawne fighting Jay and Bart. Wally joined in on the charge to stop the Reverse-Flash. thumb|left|275px|Wally creates a new uniform for himself to fight alongside his friends and family The speedsters ganged up on Thawne, seemingly having the upper hand. Wally however, didn't realize the damage Thawne had done to his children and Iris was forced to take Jai's connection to the Speed Force due to the connection between them killing them both. Liberty Belle arrived and took Iris, who now had super speed like her father, to fight the Reverse-Flash. They overwhelmed Thawne and Wally had the idea to regenerate their suits as well as giving them a second wind of energy. They all gathered next to Wally who had learned the trick of creating a suit out of the Speed Force rather than keeping it in the ring. They all imagined their suits in their heads and then Wally helped them all regenerate their suits. However, as the lightning cleared, Wally was donned in a modified suit, with white pupils and having a much darker color scheme, similar to one he wore during his days when he first learned of the Speed Force. Wally aided Barry in attacking Thawne before the Reverse-Flash took Barry away from the other speedsters, making him fight on his own. Wally managed to catch up to Barry and helped him journey into the past to stop Reverse-Flash from killing Iris. They managed to stop him from hurting Iris and tried to bring him back to the future. During the fight, Thawne revealed to Wally that one of his children would destroy him. Convergence While running with Iris and Jai, Wally is taken into Convergence and is trapped for a year without his powers. After regaining his powers, he fight FlashPoint Wonder Woman. Rebirth After the FlashPoint Event, in which Barry Allen's trip to the past altered the timeline, Wally was trapped in the Speed Force. There, he sensed a presence, who he realized was a being from outside the universe. This being was responsible for preventing the timeline from re-forming correctly after the FlashPoint, by removing a decade from history. Wally, observing the new universe from the speed force, repeatedly tried to break through to warn that world's heroes of the impending threat. None of those heroes remembered him, however, as in their timeline they'd never met him. Just before he fully faded away to become one with the Speed Force, however, Barry Allen remembered him and pulled him out, saving him. Following a tearful reunion, Wally gave Barry his warning of the true source of the universal change and the dangers to come. Although the two decide to keep Wally's return secret from Iris based on Wally's own experience with Linda, Barry encourages him to return to the Teen Titans, but also recommends that he don a new costume to reflect that he is the Flash rather than 'Kid Flash'. Wally goes to the Titans, and through both physical contact and the Speed Force, reminds them of their memories with him. After an emotional reunion, he tells them of the situation. Wally believes that the unknown entity will attack again to prevent them from finding out the truth, which they will do "together" as the Titans. It is later revealed that Dr. Manhattan of the Watchmen is responsible for altering the world resulting in 10 years being erased and Wally West ceasing to exist. Powers and Abilities Powers Speed Force Conduit: Speed Force is a vaguely defined extra-dimensional energy force from which most Superhuman Speed powered heroes draw their powers. The Speed Force serves as the ultimate measure of velocity in the DCU. They are often referred to in terms of barriers: Sound Barrier, Light Barrier, Time Barrier, Dimensional Barrier, and finally the Speed Force Barrier. While all speedsters are powered by the force, West mainlines the power from the force itself and cannot be cut off from the source, unlike the others. He is currently fast enough to easily break all the barriers and even skirt the edge of the Speed Force. Wally has, on several occasions, sped faster than light and been pulled into and exited the Speed Force by his own volition. Batman considers Flash to be one of the most formidable meta-humans on the planet. :Constructs: Wally discovered if he concentrated, the Speed Force could be used to create solid constructs which he used to compose his costume. The first time he used this ability was to create a solid armor enabling him to run despite having broken legs. Later examples included sealing up the openings of his costume against disease, creating pockets for holding things, etc. His costume itself is a construct molded from the Speed Force. At times he'll create walls of pressurized debris to surround an area. :Sharing the Force: "Lending" velocity to objects or people already in motion. Since his interaction with the Speed Force, he may also lend his speed and angular momentum to another object or person. This may allow others to run alongside with the Flash. He may still allow his molecular structure to pass through object but now after he passes through an object, the object is now supercharged with a chaotic energy, and explodes seconds after his passing through it. His range of powers seems to have been increased significantly and he is now the fastest Flash to have ever lived. If he shares the Speed Force with another meta with super-speed capabilities such as Superman, that metahuman can now exceed the speed of light but does not become aware of the Speed Dimension. He can also impart molecular energy to a target to increase molecular movement, as he did against the water being called Flow, boiling him into steam. :Steal Speed: He is able to "steal" speed and/or momentum from anyone, effectively turning them into living statues. Also can steal speed from bullets and other fast moving objects thrown at him or at others. :Speed Force Aura: The Flash's body is surrounded by what he calls his "speed force aura". This aura protects him and anyone who is running with him or carried by him, from the effects of using his speed. This includes friction and airborne particulate matter. It may also protect him from injury from high speed impacts such as punches he delivers and receives from his opponents. With this aura he is able to absorb kinetic energy. He does seem to possess some level of superhuman resistance to injury but this does not extend far past normal physical interactions, as received from normal combat. His children can sync their auras with Wally's, giving him the ability to pull either of them to him with a thought. :Superhuman Endurance :Superhuman Speed: It appears that the Flash may run at any speed that he thinks is possible. Theoretically, speeds greater than Mach 10, are dangerous to the people and to the environment. This speed would still be the equivalent to approximately 2.11 miles per second; allowing him to cross the United States in about 23 seconds, or circle the world in about 3 minutes at what he seems a "safe" speed. The Flash rarely achieves such speed in populated areas due to the effects of sonic disruptions and air displacements. His cruising speeds are probably around 90-150 miles per hour (1.5 - 2.5 miles per minute). This is fast enough to move through most cities and around people without causing too much disruption to the population and slow enough for him to register everything he sees clearly. When in a hurry, the Flash has been shown to get to places just as quickly as other heroes can teleport there, suggesting that his top speeds put him at instantaneous transport to anywhere on earth. He can also run across bodies of water and up the sides of buildings. :*''Infinite Mass Punch:'' Traveling near the speed of light acquired the relativistic mass of such speed to impart blows which could hit with the force of "a white dwarf star", Flash's own durability regulated by the Speed Force in such cases. Realistic effects take over as a body approaches light-speed. Visual input will begin to blueshift and his body's mass will increase towards infinity. With this discovery, he was able to knock out a Superman-level martian from Mount Rushmore to the plains of Africa, all with one punch. :*''Time & Dimensional Travel:'' West has shown to be able to traverse time and dimensions with his own powers, like Allen. However, Wally now accelerates to the point that he is skirting the very edge of the Speed Force dimension. He can traverse along the time-stream to specific points as they become visible, much like watching a movie in fast forward or reverse. In order to enter the Speed Force and time travel to different periods, he must reach light speed, which he can easily and instantly do (He no longer requires a run to reach light and greater speeds). :*''Regeneration: Accelerating his healing factor while using the Force to sustain him, he could heal from any injury instantly, without prematurely aging like his alternate version, Walter West. :*Phasing:'' The Flash has always possessed the ability to control his speed and angular momentum at the MOLECULAR level, and control his molecular interactions to allow his body to pass through any substance. If he chooses Wally can excite the molecules of whatever substance he vibrates through to critical mass causing it to explode. While in an intangible state, Flash is immune to any airborne viruses and can breathe regularly. He can also vibrate so fast that light does not reflect off him, rendering him invisible :*''Limited Flight:'' By spinning like a helicopter, he can even perform a limited kind of flight. Since his power is a quantum/molecular phenomenon, it is possible for the Flash to be able to fly just as other metas do, (and there have been other flying speedsters in the past, such as the deceased Johnny Quick,) because he can control his absolute molecular energy and direction and force it in the direction he wished to move without running. Though he rarely makes use of this ability. :*''Increased Perceptions:'' The Flash possesses the ability to alter his perceptions so that falling objects can appear to be standing still and can be caught and moved back to their normal position. He can do this so quickly as to have it happen invisibly to the normal human eye. He can strike a single opponent hundreds of times in a second or multiple opponents two or three times in a second. He can disarm or jam any number of opponents weapons before they are even aware of his movement and can hurl small projectiles at hypersonic velocities. :*''Supercharged Brain Activity:'' The Flash's mental abilities are also increased in speed, simple computations can be done at lightning speeds, and his ability to perform normal feats at increased speeds has allowed him to build hundreds of force field generators in a matter of hours, move sandbags to cover a beach or search an entire area for something as small as a paper clip. Wally can also read at super-speed, but rarely takes advantage of this ability to learn at increased speeds, although, Jay Garrick has done so and has become a jack of all trades in several disciplines and languages. :*''Vortex Creations:'' By running in a circle at a certain speed, Flash is able to create a vortex with a variety of affects. One effect is pulling the air away from the center in order to suffocate an enemy. Another effect is levitating whoever and whatever was in the center. Also, able to send anyone or anything into another dimension when running around them. Some other effects are acting as barriers to movement or funnels for toxic gas's. The Flash also can spin his arms to create directed funnels of hurricane speed air that can knock down barriers or reduce the speed of a falling object. When putting out forest fires, what flash does when he runs around the perimeter is create a pocket tornado. The updraft lowers the temperature inside the funnel and raises the fire off the ground which takes away it's fuel source. Abilities *'Hand to Hand Combat (Advanced)' *'Mechanical Aptitude' Strength *Athlete Weakness *'Accelerated Metabolism:' Because of his accelerated metabolism, he must consume a lot of food in order to keep his energy up or he may lose his powers. Notes *In the upcoming Comic Book Series The Flash: Rebirth the 3rd Flash Wally West will be receiving a new costume and a new superhero identity with the return of Barry Allen who will reclaim the title of The Flash. *As Kid Flash, Wally for some years took to coloring his red hair brown when in costume in order to further conceal his secret identity. Trivia *Coming Soon See Also *The Flash (Wally West)/Gallery *Kid Flash (Wally West II) In Other Media *On Smallville, Wally West was Referenced in The Episode Run as one of Bart Allen's Aliases. *Actor Michael Rosenbaum Voiced Wally West in The Animated Justice League Unlimited (TV Show) and Teen Titans. Young Justice :See: Kid Flash (Young Justice) Links *http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Flash_(Wally_West) *http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Wallace_West_(Prime_Earth) *http://www.comicvine.com/wally-west/29-23879/ 3 Category:Justice League Members Category:Titans Members Category:Teen Titans Members